HSBC sets up shop in Buffalo’s Larkinville neighborhood

But HSBC managers also wanted to create a place where employees would enjoy coming.

Location was an important factor in the bank’s decision. HSBC liked the idea of ​​locating in a neighborhood where employees can walk to stores and restaurants and attend the summer concerts about to start at Larkin Square.

There is free parking and, next to the Larkin at Exchange building, a daycare, fitness center and cafeteria.

“They love the vibrancy of the neighborhood and they love having access to all the amenities they always said they wanted,” said Michael Privitera, a Buffalo native and the bank’s U.S. chief operating officer.

HSBC is leasing all four floors of the Larkin U building from Larkin Development Group. The offices were most recently used by KeyBank, which left the company after its lease expired. Privitera declined to say how much HSBC spent on renovations.

While HSBC transformed the space, the bank kept its employees’ tenure in the office to a minimum. Many employees only have to come in one or two days a week on average.

HSBC’s scheduling flexibility is a competitive advantage in recruiting and retaining employees, Privitera said.

“They told us they were weighing flexibility and compensation,” he said. “That’s how important it is to people.” (Some employees are required to be on site every day, depending on their job.)

HSBC doesn’t disclose its local employment figures, but Privitera said the bank can accommodate “several hundred people in this building every day.”

HSBC operated out of both the downtown Atrium, which it owned, and offices on Dick Road and Walden Avenue in Depew, which it leased. The bank sold the Atrium and subsequently vacated the Depew offices, while choosing Larkinville as its new home in the Buffalo area.

In the renovated Larkin U building, employees can choose from a variety of ways to work, including casual environments, meeting rooms and more traditional desks that can be raised and lowered.

“What we find is that people like to move around throughout the day,” Privitera said. The objective is to encourage collaboration on the days when employees arrive.

HSBC has installed new LED lighting and will install an energy recovery ventilation system, to reduce the amount of energy needed to heat or cool the air in the building. Employee well-being is a key part of the improvements, Privitera said.

“The investments we have made are in direct response to feedback from professionals who tell us it has a significant impact on the well-being and comfort of people in the office,” he said.

HSBC significantly reduced the amount of office space it uses in the Buffalo area following the move, but its costs have remained stable, he said.

“Reducing the footprint had more to do with our ways of working and our ability to get better quality space at the same price.”

Employees have been working in the new space since March and have given it good reviews, Privitera said.

“There are so many entrepreneurs and small retailers that have opened up in the area,” he said. “They have a very collaborative relationship with each other, they promote each other. We kind of join in on that.”